"My wishes for my newborn twins were ignored"

My newborn twins were put in 'transitional' care following an emergency c-section.

The transitional care nurses worked to their own agenda and it felt like I as the mother had no say whatsoever. My son was fitted with a nasal feeding tube despite having a strong sucking reflex. And despite my putting 'no feeding tube' in capitals in my birth plan.

I was keen to breastfeed but the nurses insisted on formula to force my babies to put on weight as quickly as possible. Every time I tried to feed them my babies were already full.

We were kept in for over a week with daily weigh-ins until we lied and promised we'd just use formula. As soon as we got home we ditched the bottles & established breastfeeding with no trouble at all.

The nurses at Medway seemed to have no interest in me or my wishes for my children. They just worked to their own agenda.

Responses

I am sorry to hear that you felt your wishes were not considered during your hospital stay. Babies who are either born early or who are very small need careful monitoring. Our policy is to always encourage breastfeeding but in some babies the help of a nasogastic tube or the use of formula milk when breast milk is insufficient is appropriate for the babies on transitional care. Your feedback is important to us so if you would like to raise your concerns with me in more detail or have any questions you feel remain unanswered, then please do get in touch and I will be happy to look into matters for you. Louise Proffitt Clinical Nurse Lead – Neonates Email: louise.proffitt@medway.nhs.uk